By ROBIN SHANNON

Staff Reporter

LAPLACE – Complaints about high levels of smoke from the incineration of branches and tree limbs within St. John have led parish officials to pursue a more environmentally sound method of disposing of the green garbage.

The council unanimously approved a request from administration at last Thursday’s Finance Committee meeting to advertise for bids for an incineration company. The parish is particularly aiming for a company that uses an air-curtain incinerator to aid in the disposal of waste.

St. John Public Information Officer Buddy Boe said that the air-curtain mechanism uses an increased amount of oxygen at very high temperatures to limit the amount of smoke that is burned off in the process. He said the minimal amount of smoke is then trapped to prevent it from drifting out into the air.

“This is the best method to minimize the affect that our debris burning process has on our residents and our environment,” said Boe. “The air-curtain is recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Environmental Quality.”

Boe said the parish had once used a site north of the Southeast Louisiana War Veterans Home in Reserve to burn debris, but when the home opened in 2007, the burn site had to move to the Reserve boat launch. The parish has been dealing with an excess amount of green debris since hurricanes Gustav and Ike blew through the St. John area last summer. A large pile of debris had been collected for incineration at the boat launch, but an increase of complaints about smoke in the area brought an end to that collection site.

“The last bit of debris from the storms is being burned off at that site,” Boe said. “Any new debris coming from residents’ homes is now being sent to a tract of parish-owned land near the St. John Airport while we wait for a new contract.”

The parish was considering sending debris to a landfill on the west bank of St. Charles Parish, but Boe said that option was too costly since it would cost the parish about $150 per load to transport and dump the debris.

“We have two trucks that run on both sides of the parish everyday,” said Boe. “The trucks are filled and emptied several times a day depending on the weather and what kind of debris was cut down. The labor, gas and loss of time were too much for the parish to handle. Our debris removal service is the most used parish-provided service that we offer to residents.”

Boe said the parish also considered the possibility of grinding up the branches and limbs to be used as mulch but said the demand would not be there.

“Recycling it is a good idea, but we need to have places to use it, and we just don’t have that,” Boe said. “A new incineration contract is the fastest and cheapest way to deal with the excess of debris.”

Boe said the administration is drafting the request and will then advertise for prospective companies for the standard 30-day consideration period. He said it might be another 45 to 60 days before the administration can come back to the council with something new to vote on.